Last year was not a happy one for Mark Cullen. With two failed indie bands behind him (Bawl and Fixed Stars), he and his new wife were forced to move back home to his mother's council house in Finglas. Instead of wallowing in his domestic grief, however, the gritty Dubliner has channelled his frustrations into the viscerally powerful music on his second solo album Family Business. Recorded on a computer in Cullen's childhood bedroom, this searingly angry record brilliantly captures the seedy glamour of life in an anonymous housing estate, from the deadening claustrophobia to the casual drug abuse. Best of all, it wraps these sordid tales around some glorious electro-pop tunes that are often reminiscent of Pulp at their best. This gifted songwriter has now been waiting the best part of a decade for the world to sit up and take notice. Let's hope that his time has come at last.
